Rethinking Regionalism from the View of Social Mobilities

This event addresses the multiple ways in which regions are constituted when social mobilities are placed at the forefront of analysis. The working hypothesis of the event assumes a tension in how regions are both understood and configured according to the agency of social mobilities as distinct from statist and geopolitical formations of regionalism. A key aim of the event is to discern how regionalism - which is always a historically transforming complex of forces - operates not only as a technology of governance, but also how regionalism invites new questions and analytical possibilities for understanding social and cultural dynamics. The symposium will invite consideration on the particular fluxes of social life in and out of Shanghai and their role in establishing analytical, economic and political borders across China and the region. Participants will address these dynamics with their own regional locations and trajectories in mind.

The Shanghai platform involves a coordinated program of research involving over twenty visiting researchers and many local workers and participants from the cultural and creative sectors. It is book-ended by two symposia, entitled 'Rethinking Regionalism from the View of Social Mobilities' and 'Changing Dynamics of Creative Labour and its Tributaries' respectively. The platform also incorporates a 4 day workshop entitled 'New Media Workers across Asia and Europe'.